George Zimmerman's Lawyer Makes A Shocking Change To His Defense Strategy

Lawyers acting for George Zimmerman, who shot dead the unarmed
teenager Trayvon Martin on a Florida housing estate, have
abandoned their attempt to have his murder charge thrown out on
the grounds of self-defence.

Neighbourhood watch leader Zimmerman, 29, had been expected to
claim immunity from prosecution at a hearing in April under the
state's stand-your-ground law, which allows for the use of deadly
force when a person feels their life is in danger.

But in a surprise move, his lawyer, Mark O'Mara, told a judge
that the defence would take its chances at Zimmerman's trial in
June for second-degree murder. He said he still intended to
pursue the argument that his client was acting in self-defence in
February 2012 under a violent onslaught from 17-year-old Martin.

The unexpected decision changes the entire direction of a case
that sparked racial tensions when Zimmerman was originally
released without charge. The case also put America's gun laws
under the spotlight.

His fate will now almost certainly rest with a jury instead of
circuit court judge, Debra Nelson, who could have thrown out the
case at next month's immunity hearing. It leaves the defendant at
more risk of the minimum 25-year sentence that would follow a
conviction.

"The real focus is going to be on getting ready for a jury
trial," O'Mara said at a hearing on Tuesday in Sanford, close to
the Retreat at Twin Lakes community where Martin had been staying
with his father on the night of his death.

"As you know I've been counting. We're only at 96 days [from
trial] right now. So that only gives us time to really get ready
for one hearing. And that's going to be a jury trial where he
gets acquitted. George wants to have a jury of his peers decide
the case."

The defence has always contended it was Martin who was the
aggressor as they became entangled in a confrontation on the
night of 26 February 2012 as the teenager walked back to the
house owned his father's friend carrying candy and a soft drink
he had bought at a nearby shop.

Zimmerman told police in a 911 call that he was following a
"suspicious" male but claimed Martin turned on him, pinning him
to the ground and breaking his nose before he managed to draw his
handgun and fire a single deadly shot.

The prosecutor, Bernie de la Rionda, will counter that Zimmerman,
who had previously called in cases of unidentified males walking
in the community, was an overzealous busybody who pursued and
harassed an unarmed teenager before killing him with intent.

De La Rionda said he was "bewildered" by Tuesday's change of
defence tactics. The hearing ended with O'Mara announcing he
reserved the right to still seek a new stand-your-ground hearing
despite telling Nelson she could clear her calendar for the two
weeks beginning 29 April that had been set aside for the legal
argument.

Tuesday's court hearing heard that testimony from a crucial state
witness, a teenage girl known only as Witness 8 who claimed to
have been on the phone with Martin when he was shot, would be
called into question.

The girl previously testified that she was in hospital on the day
of Martin's funeral but the state attorney's office admitted that
no medical records existed to back her claim. Defence lawyers are
expected to use the development to challenge the credibility of
her story about the phone call.

Zimmerman's trial is scheduled to begin in Sanford on 10 June.
His wife, Shelley, 25, faces a perjury charge in separate
proceedings for allegedly lying to the court about the couple's
finances at a bail hearing in her husband's case.